Land of Craters: Chapter One: Investigate the Empty
:Notice: By entering this Arc you are here by faced under fair play, meaning there will be unbiased prejudice and equal rights to all those participating. Engage in conditions that are in character, and play in character. As of now, you are presently submitting to my GMing, by roleplaying in this arc you are permitting me to alter, change, or redirect the course of the individuals within said Arc, or prohibit any action that would alter the course of the plot by my definitions. Failure to concede will result in removal of those involved. Any sort of bias, prejudice, or meta gaming will result in immediate termination, on which I will not rethink. By entering this Arc, you understand that not all those who enter will survive, and the scenarios you have been given, will be taken, characters may, and will die. By entering this Arc you understand that you may not gain anything, but you also may gain untold treasures and a huge power in the turning point of the future Arcs. Good luck, and have fun. ---- Along the northern ridges of the village, lays many cliffs and rocky terrain, a coursing river flowing peacefully through the Land of Craters, a source of popular trade through the country. Fisheries lay along the entire river's course, with small fishing establishments placed near the river with small ships that now lay dormant. The wind is silent, though on the horizon, one can see the roaring clouds of black, a lightning storm that was steadily approaching the eastern border of the Land of Craters. There lays plenty of houses scattered in the forests that lay between the rocky cliffs and coursing streams that branch off the northern lands. Small craters dot the entire land, as far as the eye can see. To varying degrees, their sizes appear. A former shinobi outpost lays dormant, ever still, surrounded by still lit campfire, smoldering down to ash over the course of the day. Once roads and paths dragged their course through the village, The further one's eyes look, one will see the capital, laying dead center of the nation, large craters pocketing it, evident devestation, as if someone had plucked it from existence. To the east, the rolling clouds bellow and howl, the violent hum of lightning webbing the heavens. A danger to reach the village soon, its incoming torrent could remove traces of what occurred down below, how long would it take before the rain washes away evidence and hints at what happened here - and who may have done it. The terrain of the east is mostly forests, with a series of small cities laying within relative distance of eachother. Two of the cities seem to have faced wear and tare, a large crater blowing apart the center of one of them. What will the ruins contain? Entries to the mines seem to be heavily based in the East and South, and one can see that there lay some even to the West, all of these intersecting at one point. Excavation posts lay directly to the east. To the west lays a single outpost, conjoined with many paths that seems to act as a hub of some sort. The surrounding forest of the entire west is seemingly dead, all green life of the trees and grass turned a pale, sickly grey and unhealthy tone. The wood of the trees look as though it were covered in ash, as if a horrible fire had taken place there, and this fire took the same pattern as one of the many craters - a perfect circle that seemed to contain much of the western half of the Land of Craters. On the south, one will find a border village, nestled perfectly, and perfectly untouched, though the eerie silence of the entire nation seemed to still befall it. The Land of Craters southern terrain looks as though many had attempt to flee. Scattered carriages block the many roads, the watch towers fallen across the the area, offering many a footing on the created roads to be littered with dangerous debris. What had they tried to escape? Why all together...? As one goes deeper, they'd see the silent and beautiful landscape, and one could understand why everyone took the road. The south were laden with towering trees that dwarfed many of even the tallest village buildings, all of them as close as one could get to eachother - their roots entangling and linking together. And though one could suspect life were in this region, one would be met with a harrowing sense of emptiness... a deep rift between the life it seemed to portray. The air is thick, humid, as it usually would be for a nation as the Land of Craters, perfectly placed and at the inter-mid of seasons, weather change was bound to occur. As you enter the Land, you immediately notice the change in the taste of the air, it was stagnant, as if the Land of Craters had been trapped in a box for a very long time, and was just now getting it's taste of fresh clean air. If one were tapped into the spiritual realm, one would hear a white noise, as if connecting with a veil of static, as if all the lives that used to exist here... were taken away, and kept quiet. :All life seems still... snuffed out in a single night - it was just as you were told and heard. What could have happened here...? What could possibly lay here? Investigate and find out what you were here to discover! Time is of the essence, and it would be of no surprise if others were here to investigate as well. Potential to exploit your opposition lays with in sabotage. The North Those who come from the North, arrive at 12:30 P.M Sannoto Family On the broken path, the family reaches a path that is well ridden, branching off into many others. Choose wisely. Bodies littered the earth, the smell of dead flesh blowing in the breeze and across the entire north side of the Land of Craters. In the distance, black clouds towered towards the east of the land, blue bolts jumping from the sky to the ground. Is that how the craters got here? Sannoto bent downwards to one of the bodies, examining the dead shinobi. A dried line of blood extended down the front of his face on both sides of his nose, coming from his pupil-less eyes. He’d never seen this before, even among the countless numbers of horrors during the third, fourth and post fourth shinobi world war. The guy was dead, but he could still smell his breath. It stunk. He stood up, moving away from the dead body and back towards his metal carriage where his family rested, waiting for him. “I don’t know what happened. This doesn’t look like normal shinobi work. I think it's Black Crown again,” Sannoto said, directing his thoughts to his family. He scanned the several paths that branched off further into the forest. "Despite whatever path we take, we will get somewhere that we haven't been before.." Slamming his palms together, his alchemy activated, a bright light enveloping his hand. In it, was coiled metal wire. "I'll drop wire as we continue to walk, to prevent us from getting lost.." Leaping onto the metal horse that pulled his metal carriage, Sannoto slammed the creature's ass, commanding it to make it to take him and his family down the left-most path, into the abyss. Resting inside a portion of the carriage himself, Sigma could smell the sacred scent of the decayed bodies easing into the cracks of the carriage. His arms were folded and his eyes was closed. As his father looked at the scene, Ayame stepped from her extension of the carriage. Knocking on the door holding Sigma in, he didn't say a word. So instead she spoke, "I'm guessing you've pretty much gotten this down at this point, huh?" Sigma was quiet, as he continued to pertain the look on his face. "Well, I'll be with your dad. I think he's had enough at this point." Leaving from the side of the carriage, she moved towards Sannoto. Channeling her powers through her Crystal Release, she encase each and every body in a type of crystal coffin. "No need to watch their bodies decay like this. It's complete torture, I wouldn't even want my worst enemies body to sit and rot like that." Ayame left and walked over towards the horses, and sat on a seat portion of the outside carriage. In moments Sannoto would come to her side and the horse would shoot off. She looked over to her husband, her face as red as ever. Displaying only her innocence. "Sannoto, why the rush?" She asked, placed her index finger on his shoulder and allowing it to slide down his arm. He glanced over at his wife. The joyful expression that was normally glued to his visage was no longer there, replaced by a rather serious look. His smile, well there was no smile. He face was just blank, with a ting of frustration evident as his eyebrows seemed just a bit crunched. "The people that did this, Ayame.." Sannoto took a quick pause, "They need to be stopped. We have to find them and make sure they can't do this to anyone else. I think the same person that destroyed Otogakure is here, in this land, responsible for all of the deaths here. We have to find him, that man" The metal horses sped up, gradually getting faster as, kicking dust up into the air. Ayame looked to the side of the carriage crossing her arms and pouting. "It gets quite bothersome... We can't even get into our own personal things because of these freaks." Balling her fist, Ayame look over at Sannoto. "I don't think Sigma will be joining us in this battle, honey." Despite the speed of the horses, Ayame was still able to crystallize each body that they passed with ease. Entering her own train of thought, she drifted he mind off into the sky. "It'll be nice when we can hear joy and laughter throughout the entire world rather just in a sudden instance." "Yeah..." Sannoto turned to face his wife, allowing a small smile to surface. "I agree. We have to make this a better world for Sigma, and for the future generations to come.." he spoke, his voiced filled with a sense of happy optimism that expressed hope. Suddenly, the carriage goes off track, a wheel hitting a small ditch. Spinning out of control, the horse falls on the ground, and the carriage trips over it. Sannoto, falling from the rogue carriage, grabs his wife's arm out of reflex, pulling her off with him; Sigma kept going down the forest in the carriage. "Oh, man.." Ayame pointed towards the carriage. "Sannoto, hunny, shouldn't we...Never mind." Sigma still throwing a fit had had no sense that he's been taking a new route of his own. As the carriage continued to bumb and thump, it suddenly tipped over. Sigma thrown to the other side. Sigma slowly standing to his feet punched at the metalloid structure of the carriage. Which did nothing. "Aw right, I forgot this isn't normal metal." Closing his eyes and reopening them his distinct pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan sprung into life. Sigma's incomplete skeletal Susanoo arm was formed, holding a sword. Slashing at the carriage he cut it directly in half, at which Sigma stepped out. Looking left and right his Susanoo slowly faded away. "Um, where am I." Looking around, Sigma noticed that the carriage had rolled far off the path, and down a little used logging road. It had carried him a couple of miles away from his parents, and had deposited him well into a thick, albeit wilted, deciduous forest. Large amounts of brush seemed to be everywhere, disguising the path back even despite the carriage's passage. On the other side however, a cliff stood, cracked and pitted in places, but standing as an intense natural barrier between Sigma and the rest of the land of craters. On the side of the cliff, there stood a pair of passageways. One led downwards, seeming to be a cave system of some sorts. A stream flowed through the opening, suggesting that it went to somewhere, but as to where was an entire other story. The space seemed cramp, and would likely restrict the usage of susanoo greater than the rib cage. However the lack of paths would make it extremely difficult for creatures to try and sneak up on the young man. The other route was a split in the cliff face, a canyon piercing through the plateau. Jagged and narrow, it seemed to offer the more certain route through the cliff face. Sigma would have to choose to tempt fate with one of the paths before him, or try to go around the cliff through the forest itself. He had a decision to make. As his mind raced with decisions, he'd first have to think. First, before choosing any path he'd have to understand the ones that were introduced to him. Thinking for what seemed to be forever, he broke each pathway down to the last detail. Sigma was usually required to think a lot, a smoke assignment like this would even spark up his brain cells. He'd need different variables for each and every way he could take. It seemed now, Sigma had finally reached what he would even present as a type of conclusion, or at least a solution towards what was at hand. Sigma's Mangekyō reverted to its base three tomoe state. Surveying each path. "First is the cliff, which I'll refer to as Cracked Cliff. It isn't too much to say about this path, I can barely see what's beyond it. Now, is the next path, with my Sharingan, more advanced that others, I can see a bit further. It's dark, so with no doubt, it's a cave. I'll call it Dark Cave. It has a source of water, which depending on the scenario could be good. This other is a plateau, a damned canyon. This will be Grand Canyon. It's much more open, a view is completely possible. It seems none of these paths have nothing promising to offer. Hm.. So, I guess I'll take going around and seeing what I can get." And with that Sigma swung around, however, he was unaware he'd been heading for a forest.. One he had no information on. The underbrush was thick, rendering movement difficult and Lines of Sight short. The trees themselves were incredibly bushy, making it difficult to jump from branch to branch, rendering the easy way to move around useless. With all the brush, Sigma quickly became lost, as there was no obvious path to follow. After being like this for nearly an hour, her heard a pair of familiar voices coming from off to his right, sounding like his parents. With his three tomoe looking through the forest, he saw more than enough road blocks to concluded, he couldn't use his sense of sight, and would instead have to rely on his other senses. Showering the land, Sigma found himself ultimately lost, he had no idea of where his destination was. In the distance he heard something. This something was too familiar. It followed Ayame, and Sannoto perfectly. With no other option he went in said direction. Enter the Mute Mulberry As you tread the forest paths, you notice the distinct lack of noise, no rustling of leaves, no breeze, only... hush. The lack of wildlife noise stopped Haruna in her tracks. Not even the trees seemed to rustle. She could feel the stillness in the air, thanks to her powers. It is clear that something bad happened in this country, but the woman did not come here to confirm that piece of news. She leaned against a nearby tree to examine her immediate surroundings for the flows of natural energy, but the trunk groaned and cracked. Haruna would have cried out in surprise as the seemingly-fine tree collapsed under her weight, if she wasn't a mute. Haruna returned to her feet, leaning on her monk's spade, and brushed off the dirt from her clothes as she examined the fallen tree. The tree looked petrified in a living state, but it was rotten and quite dead underneath. Haruna never seen anything like it: it's possible that some sleeze ball dabbled into forbidden territory again. It wouldn't be the first time that a nation had come under conflict due to someone meddling in kinjutsu. If anything, these forbidden jutsu should be better regulated: legalized and placed under supervision to prevent the effects from causing catastrophes. With this in mind, Haruna continued down the road, enlightened but unconcerned with the trouble that she recognizes she is potentially walking into. Danger is what she was literally born to face, so fear is not an emotion that Haruna was accustomed to. Only once did Haruna feel fear and that was when she came into conflict with a . It was not the jinchūriki itself that scared her, but the beast inside. To possess unfathomable amounts of chakra coated in malice: it was an experience that Haruna would never forget. Speaking of such experiences, she came across an abandoned cart and its complement of dead horses. Or it would be considered abandoned if the corpses of its occupants were not slumped where they sat. It stank of decay, but Haruna noticed that not even the flies were out in force to harvest the bodies. She gave one corpse's wrist a squeeze and noted its squishiness. These people died days ago, it seemed, and the cart's cloth covering protected the bodies inside from most of the weathering. However, that protection wouldn't last long. The least Haruna could do was give them a proper burial on the side of the road. Using her monk's spade, Haruna dug a hole wide enough to rest all of the corpses next to each other. She realized that a mass grave was not ideal, but the nun really didn't want to waste too much time giving the dead their respects and rites when there is supposed military secrets in the country that could go into the wrong hands. The dirt crumbled under her shovel head, which Haruna found strange since it rained a day or so ago: the earth should still be soft. Yet, even the dirt seemed to have its life sucked out of it. Laying down the bodies is not a problem for someone of Haruna's short stature when she possessed strength that overshadows her petite frame. There was a family as well as some apparent acquaintances: probably a small group of merchants heading into the country at the time. Haruna erected a small marker to the grave and hung some of the personal items she collected on it, hopefully so that the dead could be identified later. With this task completed, Haruna continued her journey towards the center of the very-much-dead country. Triggered by your digging, thousands of worms leaked from the hole, burrowing underneath the dirt trail that the mute shinobi walked upon. Pack by pack, they tore through the earth. These worms are not like the average bug. Imbued with biological spikes that allow for an easier means of digging, they can penetrate almost any material: wood, steel, crystals, etc. Their small bodies are brown, thus they blend into the ground nicely. Spotting them in the darkness of the night is almost near impossible due to their camouflage, however thousands of small whistles can be heard. You can see the earth moving slightly in both directions and the motion is gradually approaching from both the front and rear and the motion seems to extends about fifty feet. However, the left side and right sides are clear, but choosing either direction would lead you off the dirt path nicely carved. Several choices lay before you. Choose wisely. The movement of the worms underneath made Haruna pause in her step. It was only moments before that she noticed nothing in the flow of natural energy. Now, suddenly there is life. Whatever it meant, Haruna was not interested being victimized by it. She leaped into the trees but, the moment she landed on a branch, it collapsed under her weight. But she was undeterred by this setback. As each branch broke, Haruna leaped to the next. With her quick movements, Haruna lost track of the roads, but she was certain she was headed in the direction of the Craters' hidden village. But the worms seemed to be able to keep up with her movements: their presence neither grew or shrunk as Haruna raced through the forest. She returned to the forest floor, allowing the worms to catch back up to her. Whatever they are, it is best to deal with them now rather than later. Haruna popped open the lid to one of her water containers and waited for the creatures to make their move. The ground dropped, the worms having eaten away a large amount of it to create a sinkhole. As Haruna dropped with the sinking ground, hundreds of worms shot out of the walls, intent on eating the young woman. Cloudy Days You are off road, and making your way through the rocky terrain, closest to the river, a small settlement can be seen in the distance from your location. Enkyo yawned once more. Being sent to investigate the disappearance of another village was not how she planned on spending her day off, but nevertheless it was something that she was commanded to do. In order to honor that request, she had sent a clone of hers, a stabilized Storm Clone, to do the digging. In this way she was freed up to spend the day with her Storm Corps squad. The fact that she hadn't received any information from her clone so far signified that there was none to be given, therefore she turned back to her comrades and continued about her business. Meanwhile, her clone continued to navigate the Land of Craters challenging terrain. "Where's Kei and Shiguma?" she thought as she picked her way across, taking great care to stay unseen, "they should have been here by now to help investigate, after all we need to find out this information on what happened and get it back to the Raikage," With that, she disappeared into the countryside, running across the rocky terrain until she reached the outskirts of the settlement. "Let the fun begin," she thought as she prepared to step inside of the settlement's walls. Always the fast one. Kei's Lightning and yin-yang clone looked about the settlement. Picking up rocks and stuff, he examined it. Finding nothing amiss, it only added to his unease. "Enkyo, wait up!" He tried to journey after her after arriving in the Crater Country. Having been transported after her, he was a bit behind. Rushing after her, he kept the river in sight and examined the terrain. As she entered the settlement, he waited for her to report back to see what she had found. The South Those who arrive from the South, arrive at 12:30 P.M 'Supply' Caravan, the Agent The carriage you arrived in is having difficulty making it through the treacherous path laden with fallen carriages. Crates, luggage, all sorts of debris. A fallen watch tower hangs atop a tree, creaking as it struggled to fall, caught by branches. "Dammit, this pathway is nearly impossible to get through. What's with all these carriages strewed all over the road?" A horse carrying a wagon full of what looks like supplies was making its way down the southern pass, surrounded by a small squad of soldiers acting as a bodyguard division. Sitting at the main seat of the wagon was a woman, whose peculiar clothing would make her stand out virtually anywhere. Her outfit was something someone would call a witch's attire, complete with the hat. Her hair was long and red enough to make an Uzumaki jealous, but even then she bore no relation to them. Pulling back on the reins, the horse came to a stop. The guards made way for an opening, allowing her to drop from the carriage. She was Kosui Genmu, a goods exporter from Jikanogakure with nearly a decade of knowledge about the land. But even her several years of experience was nothing now, because what she was once familiar with is no longer there, replaced by ruins. Looking up, she noticed the watch tower, seemingly rested upon the branches. But even this would not hold for long, as the wood from the tower was beginning to crack under its own weight. Kosui began inspecting each of the carriages, noting many of them with their supplies strewn all over the road, not even mentioning the debris from some of the broken carriages and other things that may have been in the village. Carefully, she began blasting the carriages away, utilizing her expertise over Water Release, pushing them away with strong jets of water, the carriages splintering on impact as the pieces scattered into the dying grass that was on the side of the road. She ordered the squadron to help toss away the other items, but having them check the crates and anything else for anything potentially valuable. Though there were quite a lot of things strewn on the road, none of it was out of the ordinary; Just food, water, clothes and other basic essentials. Once the debris and such were cleared from the road, Kosui made her way back onto the carriage, the bodyguards positioning themselves back into defending the carriage as Kosui whipped the reins, allowing the horse to move forwards once more. "An entire road of carriages, supplies strewn all over the place. Sounds like the making of something pretty nasty." Kosui spoke under her breath. The rain was beginning to push through, making its way into the Land of Craters, as if meant to provide a sense of sadness to an empty land. The further she led her carriage through the land, she could see how much has been done. It was, in her eyes, beautiful destruction; Buildings broken down, watchtowers falling apart, it was glorious in her eyes. Behind her, the watchtower's weight was too much for the trees to support, crashing down to the ground below, cutting off their route from behind. "Looks like no other way left to go but forward. Let's keep moving, see if we can find just what's wrong with this picture." Thanks to the water that you shoot across the forest in front of you, a large amount of harmless looking slime rapidly grows from some of the supplies and plants that you blasted on the sides of the trail. Although it appears harmless, the mycotoxins within it causes a very dangerous allergic reaction within humans. It spreads via spores through the air and through contact. Attempting to use water to wash it off of plants or away from an area simply spreads it faster, as the water transports the mold to new possible host, as even grass is able to host this calorie feeding fungus. It cannot survive in dry, arid conditions, however. The sides of the forest begin to become filled with such moss on both sides and seems to be growing quickly towards the trail, shutting off both sides from further travel. From the looks of its growth, the trail in front will be overcome too and you will be stranded in the middle of the growing fungus. Hurry, before it’s too late. Watching a slow moss growing around her, she knew something was wrong. Nodding to her guardsmen, they chose to stay behind to try and slow down the progression of the moss, using various techniques of different elements to try and slow it down. Lashing sharply on the reins, the horse began sprinting away from the moss. It was spreading across areas that were damp. In this, she signaled the horse to make a sharp turn by clinching on the reins and tugging them to the right. As the horse made a sharp turn, one of the "supplies" fell out of the carriage; A scroll containing a technique meant to siphon life from nearby areas. Quickly, Kosui found herself at dry land, but was right within the main village. Making a stop, she noticed the moss stopped following, suggesting she was in an area where the moss was unable to grow. "Well, here we are. The hellhole that is now the Land of Crater's main village. Looks like a ghost town." Getting down from her horse, she began pulling on the reins to allow it to follow as she made her way through the dead city. From there, she stopped, giving her a chance to change her attire. Snapping her fingers, her attire transformed into a dress that rested down to her knees with an open v shape at the chest. On her arms were sleeves not connected to her dress. Her glasses vanished, revealing the cold eyes behind them and her hair changed to a different style, resting over her right eye. On her chest is an emblem seemingly imbued into the skin, of a crescent moon with many intricate patterns surrounding it. As she made her way through the village, she found a red haired man in the distance. We was wearing a striking suit of armor over his chest with a blue undersuit beneath. Decorating this armor was a striking cloak bearing swirling symbols, seemingly representing sand being pulled into the signature Sunagakure gourd. From there, she approached him to get a closer look. Drizzling Rain Your path has lead you through the thick trees, the air is thick here, and you can smell the tinge of rot in the distance - the scent of an empty forest. As the debuts of the world's shinobi processed throughout the remains of the Land of Craters, two winged rodents, classified as Flying Squirrels, glided casually from tree to tree, their arms extended to the east and west to display their wings in greater context. Shinobi in disguise, they were from the Land of Rain, Amegakure to be exact, having been issued by the nation's feudal lord to conduct their own fair share of research. They welcomed the incoming degree of humidity as they had in their own homes, finding comfort in the sudden change of temperature. Sayuri Uchiha especially seemed to have been enjoying itself, a smile plastered across it's face. Looking down, the winged squirrel came to a sudden stop upon an extended tree branch, surveying the mass of many broken carriages polluting the pathway. In the distance, upon raising it's head, the rodent took notice of a nearby village, which oddly enough, seemed to be fully intact, as opposed to what they had recently been exposed to. Turning to it's partner, the rodent suggested they head in the direction of the village, giving off a distinctive chirp. Responding to the wonderful sounds of rodents chirping to one another, small fleas awoke and began jumping alongside the many tree branches in front of the two. Although almost invisible, you can make out distinct noises of insects slapping against the dying wood. For now, on this tree branch, you are indeed safe. However, continue any further upon the branches just as you were, disaster awaits. This fleas are imbued with a bacteria that was once responsible for a quarter of the world’s population dying. Symptoms of this bacteria-transmitted disease includes Symptoms often include gangrene, darkening and rotting in the fingertips, nose, toes, and genitals, and a lack of sensation in the skin. The ground beneath you is without the hungry fleas. To pursue via tree to tree or upon the ground, or any other way. Regardless, many doors are open, but which one will ultimately close behind you? The Lone Leaf You are on the outline of the thick forest, there seems to be no other way around it. You can try to reach the top of these behemoth trees, or enter the forest and make it to what you believe is the road to the capital. The winds of the gentle breeze blew vividly upon the land of craters, a place which was said to have disappeared in a single night. No one was certain of the reason, yet it certainly attracted the interest of the shinobi world, considering that the land of craters was a prosperous land with many resources. Many shinobi were sent to investigate the site and bring intel back to their villages. Amongst these shinobi was a silver-haired man, muscular figure and certainly an attractive visage. The man was wearing a black stretchy cloth that covered his arms and ended as a glove. He was wearing a light blue jacket with the Kinsei Clan's crest on the back, accompanied with brown pants and bandages that started from his ankles and extended to his knees covering his brown pants. Finishing off his attire with black sandals, a common footwear for shinobi. The man was known as Saizen Kinsei, a man known allover the shinobi world for his skills and strength. The man was striding along his path heading towards the land of craters "Huh, the land of craters disappeared in a single night without any traces. That's some spooky stuff for sure." he said to himself as he maintained a sleepy look on his face. He seemed to be delving into deep thinking and pondering as he zoned out for a minute. "Hmmm" he kept repeating. "I remember the Hokage saying something about the land of craters, if only I could remember." said the man as he pondered. ~''Flashback''~ Saizen was standing firmly in front of the Hokage in her office with his common sleepy expression. "DO NOT! and I repeat do not even think about going into the land of craters. We're not certain of what lies there, it would be a great risk to send you there alone. I realize your habits of having everything your own way, but I repeat once more, don't set foot in the land of craters, are you even listening to me?" said the Hokage, sitting in her wheelchair glancing at Saizen sharply. While he might've been looking at the Hokage, seemingly concentrated, he was far from that. He didn't hear any of the Hokage's words as he was busy staring at her cleavage as he zoned out. This prevented him from acknowledging anything said by the Hokage. As she finished her statement, Saizen only heard "Are you even listening to me?" as he replied "Yes, sir. I got it." ~''End Flashback''~ Saizen regains his concentration "I'm sure it was nothing important." he says shrugging his shoulders as he strolls towards the land of craters. He suddenly finds himself encountering a dense forest. The forest seems deep and it extends a long way making it seem like there was no alternative route. "Hmmmm, now, what to do? I guess I'll leap on the tree branches, should get me there faster." he says resting his finger joints on his chin. He then proceeds to leap onto the trees, entering the forest. He jumps from branch to branch at an inhuman speed making his way to his intended destination. Due to your immense size and misfortune in landing on the branch of a dead tree, the branch snaps when you land upon it. Losing balance, you fall several hundred feet into the forest. You discover that forest dips down into one of the largest craters in the land which is five hundred feet below the normal level. The silence that once surrounded the forest is no longer there, replaced by moans which seem to echo around you. Before you are two routes that you are allowed to take. On your right is a mine shaft. On your left is a dirt trail that continues as far as the eye can see. One path leads you to safety with no problems and the other gets you to your destination with some obstacles on the way. The choice is yours on which is the right path As Saizen drops down from the branch, he cushions his fall with a cloud of metal dust that lifts him off the ground causing him to land safely. "Woooh, that's some crater right there." he says standing slowly on his feet with the same emotionless expression that hints a slight apathy. Nonetheless, Saizen finds himself at a road split. "What a fork in the road, should I go right or left?" he thinks tapping his chin. Saizen gets out a coin from his pocket and tosses it in the air. He then grabs it and puts it on the back of his other hand while concealing it with the initial hand. "If it's heads, I go left. Tails, I go right." he says as he slowly reveals the sign, which was in fact tails. Saizen then dashes in the right route with his abnormal velocity. The East Those who arrive from the East, arrive at 12:00 P.M The Flying Ace Sight of thunderstorms coming towards you, the gusts in the heavens are picking up, and clouds are now trickling beneath your vision, misting your view of the Land. Ace was flying at high speed through the air, weaving in and out of clouds. Travelling east, around 12:00 pm midnight, he could clearly see storm clouds of the very thick variety. Decreasing his flight speed greatly, while changing his trajectory, he picked up large, natural x-ray signatures, confirming the presence of lightning in the region. "Lightning... my favorite natural element..." said Ace as he headed toward the storm. Gazing down through the openings in the clounds, he could see the decimated landscape of the Land of Craters, a natural resource rich country that apparently disappeared overnight. Scanning the land for heat and radiation signatures, Ace picked up perfects circles giving off slight heat and photon radiation, showing signs of burning. "Circles of heat... that is unusual and definitely done by a human, as nature couldn't of achieved such a feat by itself." pondered Ace as he formed a handsign, making a clone of himself. "That area needs further investigation so head though the opening in the clouds and take a look at it" said Ace to his clone before in dropped through the opening in the cloud. "Time to go through this storm..." he added before diving into the cloud. Inside the cloud, it was very dark and Ace's vision was obscured. Out of no where, lightning began travelling through the clouds in his direction. "so, I'm a lightning rod eh?" he said as he dodged lightning strikes with his amazing reflexes. After avoiding around 6 strikes, the lightning itself appeared a different color than before. "Multicolored lightning in a storm like this? This can't be good..." responded Ace as a faster than normal red bolt came his way. he narrowly dodged it before being struck in the left arm by another red bolt. The force and sheer heat of the strike ripped through his flesh as it struck his metallic skeleton, before being absorbed. "Damn it!" Ace shouted as he moved to the side, his flesh healing at an accelerated rate from the strike. "Time to mix things up!" he thought as he gather lightning release chakra throughout his body, channeling it towards his palms. "Chill out!" he yelled as he projected his unique supercooled lightning at several incoming bolts of the intense electrical energy, cancelling its effects and causing it to join itself to his technique. Projecting the lightning outwards, he manipulated it into a spherical shape, before moving it into the storm. "This may not stop the storm but it will cool it down enough to cause freezing rain..." said Ace as the sub zero temperature lightning cooled down the sourrounding clouds drastically, forming what looked like a light snow before it started freezing the rain. coating his body in radiation armor to keep the freezing rain at bay and provide himself with a lightsource, he desended through the clouds towards the land for further investigation. "That lightning present in the clouds will feed of the natural lightning to keep it going, and hopefully that will turn this crazy weather into some lovely snow..." Ace thought to himself as he continued his descent. In another part of the land... Ace's clone had touched down near one of the several rings of fire that seemingly dotted this particular section of the land. "This area has an odd feeling..." he said, communicating with the real Ace. "I sense something odd as well... Proceed with the mission and alert me if you find something strange" said Ace to his clone before proceeding. ' Back to the sky...' Tens to thirty of mutated flies, double the size of the average man, are flying towards you. Extending from their massive faces are very long tubes with a clear ooze dripping from the circular opening. It seems this tube that extends from their mouths are used to emit saliva and judging from the size, it is probable that they can emit a large amount of saliva and at a range, perhaps a good four to five feet. The flies arrange in a formation that makes flying directly pass them without making contact or stepping within range of their mouthparts nearly impossible. You have the options to fight the flies head on, or to try to avoid them by flying higher and higher into the clouds where they can’t follow. Both choices have consequences that you will have to face, either good or bad. Ace stopped in mid air as he saw the massive flies heading towards him. "This is really strange... A village gets destroyed overnight with seemingly no survivors and now giant flies..." Ace thought before phasing Metrochronus into his hands and rendering himself invisible. Ace then used his sword to cut down most of the flies, bisecting some down the middle. Suddenly, a the flies began to swarm him. Ace quickly formed a set of handsigns before unleasing a ton of sonic speed blades from his body before they retracted. After the assault, there was 2 flies left. "They seem unusual, and it's be crazy to just kill them off so I'll contain these two for study later on..." Ace thought before surrounding the flies Multiple sealed, boxed sturctures of hard light before storing them away in Hyperspace. Ace then continued his decent through the clouds, quickly touching down on land. Arihant Flight The clouds are more distant to you, small black dots appear within the cloud whenever you see lightning web between them. The spiritual hum of the Land, is devoid, pained but quiet. The tone of the eastern sky told that of a different story of the nature of events that took place on the ground. Seemingly in a fit of rage distance clouds danced and pranced among the open space angrily firing lighting as if in a fit of rage at the current sight below. Feeling hints of this rage a massive unusual bird with green feathers and ripple pattern tomoe eyes soared high in the air in defiance of Nature's fury. Flying with a great natural agility, the bird ducked and dodged the strikes of bolts thank to the shared vision of both it's caster and its own superior vision. The resembled a ball in a game of peng pong in the sky as the bird began to slowly descend after each strike hoping to decrease the chances of getting struck. "Yama I have never been one for bad omens but if I had to say by sight alone this can't be good, I came here to investigate the spiritual state of the Land of Craters not become a lightning rod". Raido said jokingly taking full advantage of the Rinnegan's shared perception. Raido, Yama and The bird each has a responsibility to keep a watchful eye on the sky, flank and ground to avoid undesirable circumstance. The information was passed and process among this trifecta allowing them to smoothly coordinate their plans in such turbulence for the time being. "Yama I don't think we have ever sensed shit like this in a long time, something is seriously wrong here. The dukkha sensory here is in complete disarray and in every direction, I can't pinpoint a specific location of where we should even begin our search. Pain and suffering is everywhere yet its quietly loud, the agony and state of the souls are present like the air we breath. Yet they offer no story nor chronicle of what happened here. I think they may be shy. Raido said breaking the solemn emotion with slight humor. "Spare me your banality Raido and stay focused if we are going to meet and accomplish the mission parameters here then will need to devote our time to searching and not talking. Besides we need to stay vigilant about our current predicament, the lightning won't cease because we ask it too We may have to ldecrease our altitude slightly in order to function at an optimal rate". Yama declared reminding Raido they were not out of harms way just yet. The voices suddenly grew hushed, as the spiritual realm detected the presence of prying eyes, as if they did not want to be seen - shamed, shy, afraid. All of the emotions swirled about as Raido peered deeper into the root of the issue of the deceased. And their silence ushered a new sight for the Arihant, the small dots that seemed to appear in the far distance as the lightning webbed, appeared closer. Their visage became more clear, though still as pitch black as before, their form was now made clear. Ravens, as black as the clouds they were hidden within, large ones, their beaked maws parting to reveal jagged teeth, revealing gums that dripped of an unhealthy milky texture. As they got closer, Raido came face to face with the realization that the ravens were no small size, and were becoming increasingly larger as they approached with the storm. Lightning bolted between each of them, seemingly ineffective against the birds of pray, though not in equal size to Raido's own mount, they were near a quarter of the menacing creature in form. Talons clenching and un-clenching, more and more dots appeared in the stormy skies... And they all had their eyes on one person - the person that had entered their domain: the Storm Crows dived forward, maws and talons open, preparing to swarm the Arihant and his creature. "Friends of yours"?? Raido said looking down at the large bird he was riding on. The bird was unusual compared to of bird indigenous to earth and most environments but he was suppose to be a crow of some kind none the less. "Yama we missed breakfast this morning didn't we?? "I think these birds just contributed to being our lunch, my friend will just have to forgive me. Raido said gazing at the sheer number of avian creatures taking residence in the sky, using the superior vision of his bird to see most of them. The birds also had a ravenous look within their eyes and it appeared they each had Raido on the menu for the days course. Not on the mans list of things to do today. Raido I fail to see the humor in your statement, or have you not noticed the state of these birds they are not natural crows. They are clearly not edible and devouring them should be the last thing you would seek to do with these foul creatures. Yama said disgusted in Raidos idea to consume the birds. "Sheesh if your panties get any tighter Yama you will catch a yeast infection dont worry I was kidding". Raido said getting back to business and the task at hand. Thats a helluva lot of birds. However birds don't carry much mass and their bones are less dense and mostly hollow which allows them to take flight much easier because they carry less. These crows aren't natural but they are built in the same manner as natural birds. Their ability to generate lightning can also work into my favor. Raido said rummaging through his thoughts working with surgical precision to create an effective counter attack. Channeling his power through via Tendo Realm Raido looked out among the masses and knew exactly what he needed to do in order to take out as many creatures as possible. Banshō Ten'in: Dōmetsu!!!!! Raido focused a barrier among the birds creating a zone around just one thanks to this barrier the bird began acting like an attractive force pull matter toward the avian creature which in the sky was his fellow birds. Being in the air the pull was much harder for them to resist under the immense pressure the creatures were forcibly dragged to the center slammed into one another until the gathered crow's began resembling a large all within the sky. Now for the heat. Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!! Kneading chakra in his stomach Raido spit forth a huge fireball with flames leaping and dancing off the fireball, which on its own was fired with tremendous force but once it reached the barrier attraction range it traveled faster becoming more violent as it flew rampaging through the wind diving head first to meet large number of gathered birds. The explosion damage should take a few residual birds lingering and hopefully scare the rest, since most bird had a fear of fire. Looking forward at his work Raido pondered if these birds still held true to such a nature. Black Ops Ascends Sight of thunderstorms coming towards you, the gusts in the heavens are picking up, and clouds are now trickling beneath your vision, misting your view of the Land. The Traveler Sage You walk across the rocky terrain, and you come face to face with a small ravine, in which a rickety bridge crosses over. Going around would take too long, and going over would require flight. Going down is an option... but the tributary connects with the river to the north, and is flowing rapidly, dangerous rocks form like jagged teeth. Your eyes catch sight of an excavation and mining point. "I'm not far from the Land of Craters, but I can still feel something, something dark. It's not right." Making his way to the village, he found himself in front of a ravine. He used to cross the bridge across the ravine in the past, but took note of its disrepair. Picking up a small rock, he threw it at the bridge, the bridge falling apart the moment the rock touched up against the rotting wood. "No way across the ravine, now. Were it me, I'd have fallen to my death." The man was a tan skinned, fairly built individual, tall, with a hair of hues of brown and red. Two distinctive horns growing from both sides of his forehead. His eyes were distinct, like looking into two small galaxies. He had a face one would mistake for the ancient Sage of Six Paths if they gave but a quick glance. His name is Kisui Iyoku, and he was on a task to investigate the Land of Craters. He had traveled there a lot, taking note of the peoples' hospitality and generally friendly disposition. He learned the village had just suddenly vanished, no trace of its inhabitants. This concerned him greatly. "I would not recommend flying. It looks like there is a particularly dangerous storm coming our way. We must find an alternative route." There was another voice, ancient, wise, but only one Kisui could hear. It was the spirit of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, who had been a part of Kisui since his birth. "Maybe go around the ravine?" Another spirit, one old, but not as old as Hagoromo, was one Kisui encountered within a tomb. The spirit merged with him, wanting to find the road of peace, a road he wasn't able to achieve, having been killed by forces unknown. "No. We'd be rained out before we made it to the end. Kisui, look to the right, looks like an excavation point. Perhaps someone had been creating an alternate means of traversing." Looking to his right, he found Hagoromo was right. It looked like a mining spot, a cavern. Making his way inside, he noted it turned to the left, straight in the direction the ravine was facing. It was dark, but there was some minor form of lighting that dimmed the cave. There were many areas where minerals were mined out of the walls, everything being picked clean. "Looks like whoever was here first already got their pickings. If we are lucky, this cavern should lead across the ravine. Let us keep moving." Hagoromo spoke out. As Kisui made his way to the main chamber, he noted how huge it was. An entire cavern system hidden within a mountain. Though the ravine pierced even through here, thankfully, a more stable bridge connected the two sides together. Still, Kisui didn't want to take any chances. Picking up another rock off the ground, he tossed it against the bridge, the rock bouncing off the wood and into the chasm below. It was sturdier than the last bridge, that's for sure. But the only way to truly test it is by crossing it. Walking up to the bridge, Kisui took a cautious step, the bridge bowing to support his frame. Holding onto the ropes, he placed his other foot down, slowly crossing the bridge. It managed to hold, surprisingly. At around the middle of the bridge, a misstep caused one of the bridge panels to break, the wooden splinters dropping to the dark abyss. He had to be careful. Too many panels could end up causing the bridge to break in half. Carefully, Kisui continued stepping across the bridge, taking one gentle step at a time until he found himself across the ravine and on towards the other side. But unfortunately for him, there wasn't a cavern system from the other end, suggesting that the excavation crew must have been amongst those who disappeared. He needed to think of something. "A dead end. What now?" Kisui asked, walking across the wall, looking for any kind of tunnel that may lead them out, but to no avail. "What about your Flying Thunder God Technique?" The ancient samurai spirit asked. "No good. Even if were possible, I left my kunai behind." As Kisui continued to place his hands across the walls, he noticed one was structurally weaker than the rest, meaning someone may have tried to excavate here. Taking a deep breath, Kisui began to pull in energy, directing it through his right arm. Placing his fist against the wall, he pulled back, the energy aimed to release upon impact. With a mighty impact, the punch, imbued with the energy of the Deva Path, broke the weakened wall, revealing a tunnel behind it, meaning someone tried to excavate from this side as well. Looks like luck was on his side after all. Traversing through the tunnel, he made it out, into the vast unknown that was now the Land of Craters. It looked like a wasteland, broken buildings, a chilling, but almost dead wind blowing over the empty horizon. This was unfamiliar territory to him now. Nothing was familiar to him anymore. Everything he knew about the Land of Craters has vanished. The more he made his way through the village, the more chilling the atmosphere felt to him. "There's something about this place. I can feel nothing but torment. Like something's screaming out for help, but can't be heard. So many voices all saying the same thing." Hagoromo spoke out, concerned over the eery atmosphere of the village. Kisui couldn't help but agree. He could feel the voices like they're trying to reach out to him, unable to grab for help. It was a chilling experience, like cold hands touching upon him in the hopes of trying to reach out to the concerned Sage. As he made his way into the village, he saw a woman in the distance. Long, flowing black hair with the lower half of her hair a significant hue of red. From what he saw, she was very attractive. From there, he saw her approach him. Standing still, he let her walk to him to get a closer look at her, see what he's up against. "Be on your guard, Kisui. She might be dangerous." The samurai spoke out. The Witch and the Sage "So what brings you here then, madame?" Kisui asked, looking down at the relatively short woman. She was very attractive, but he could see how cold her soul was. He decided to feign his ignorance enough to learn of who she was. But Kosui was having none of it. She saw his eyes; The Rinnegan. He had them hidden, but she could see them all too well. With a glare, she stepped back, pools of water forming in her hands. "You possess the Rinnegan, and that's something I will not stand for." With a growl in her voice, she began pressurizing the water and unleashed it from her hands, two jets of powerful water streams. With a jolt, Kisui jumped out of the way, turning back to observe the jets of water smash into a house as if there was no resistance to stop them. "I knew she was bad news!" The samurai yelled out. Activating his Rinnegan, Kisui went on the offensive. With a charge at incredible speeds, Kisui went for a solid kick, utilizing his celestial energy to bring forth a powerful attack that could fell a fully grown tree. Kosui, seeing the kick, ducked down, but even then, she could feel the energy coming off of it. "That's not chakra... What is that?" Kosui thought to herself. Jumping back at a distance, she pulled a kunai out of her pocket. Feigning her throw, she quickly formed into a puddle of water, seemingly disappearing. Appearing behind Kisui, she goes for a stab. Quickly turning around, Kisui grabs ahold of her wrist. Looking her in the eyes, he saw how cold they were. "Oh you poor thing. So far into the darkness, you believe yourself unable to be saved. But there's still an ounce of decency in you. You wanted to be noticed, didn't you? I see it in your soul. Well, I notice you." Forcefully pulling her hand away, Kosui jumped back, clinching tight on her kunai with a glare in her eye. Kisui could do nothing but sigh and shake his head. Lunging at Kisui with a yell, she threw her kunai on the ground and began assaulting him with her signature style, giving him little time to react. Each punch, every kick was thrown with uninhibited anger, water forming against each and every strike, hardened to dense levels. Kisui was having a hard enough time trying to keep up when Kosui began shifting with each strike, removing the chances of telegraphing. Eventually, her strikes began making contact, and Kisui could feel them. Grimacing in pain, he felt one of his ribs break against a kick. Pushing her back, Kisui tried to take a deep breath, but found it difficult. He could feel a sharp pain in his chest from the resulting broken ribs. "Why do you insist on trying to save me? Who are you?" Kosui asked, glaring at the wounded Sage. She was angry at him for him even thinking he could save her. But deep down there was something there that was "appreciating" the effort. She didn't like that. "Tell me who you are!" Before Kisui could answer, he felt a deep chill, as if something had entered the village. Something dark. "I don't have time to explain just yet, but come with me and once I figure out what's going on, I'll tell you everything." Kisui replied. Grey Ninja A long winding path lies before you, nemerous trees and rocks lie in the way. In the distance, the Land of Craters can just barely be seen through the dense, decayed foilage. "I swear, this journey looks so much shorter on map…" Ume Inba muttered. The long arduous journey to the Land of Craters was almost finished, but the thickest part of the dead forest lay ahead. "I guess I'll have to use some chakra." "Smoke Dash!" Erupting into a cloud of ash and smoke, the gust of embers blew through and among the trees, bushes and briars. Ume suddenly reforms above a large crater after reaching the end of the tree-line. "Crap!" He yells as he plummets and impacts into the dusty soil. Looking out into the distance, a large storm rumbles and thunders violently. "Odd weather here," he remarks, "Hopefully there's some challenge here." Ume says as he then looks towards a settlement. He rolls his neck in anticipation and sets off towards the small town. The ninja in grey traveled along the path, his feet sinking into the ground with each step as he stepped through the loose soil. This area seems to have been the remains of a farmer's field, though all of the plant life was wilted away and dying, far too fast for it to be normal. Six different scare crows were standing in the field, each facing towards the farmhouse on the other side of the field. Said farmhouse was two stories tall, with a barn flanking on either side. A strong headwind was blowing along the field, flowing towards the forest. The West Those who arrive from the west, arrive at 12:00 P.M Faltering Leaves Your squad arrives at one of the small outposts, broken down but still standing. Life was once flowing through here on a daily basis, and you are sure others might have arrived nearby. "Lady Hokage, I guess I'll be on my way now." Ishihara states as he stood in the center of three shinobi one in specific being Iwashi, Ishihara's very own "father". In a quick instance the group disappeared and reappeared at the western way of their location. Ishihara existed from the cramped space and the opposing three men vanished yet again. Ishihara was sharp today, just as any other. He who're a white long sleeve button down, with a tie around the color. Covered by a green dress jacket and slacks, and causal black dress shoes. "Lady-Kasuga gave me these damned things." Ishihara thought as he reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out three specialized tags. Forming a specific hand seal, he because engulfed in smoke, and three shadow clones came to life. Ishihara placed a tag on the belly of each of his clones, and they dropped their shirts over their stomachs. "These space--time tags will be of great use in the future." Ishihara then pointed to one of the clones, "I want you to head to the eastern portion of the land." Point to the next. "I want you at the southern, and the last clone you at the north. All of you facing inwards towards the land." Ishihara looked up at the sky, reaching into his pocket yet again, he pulled out a kunai and dropped it where he stood. "Scatter!" After roaming the western side of the borders, Ishihara took note of the outposts that barely but still they stood. Reaching into his tool pouch he pulled out another of the tag, reaching under the shoulder part of his shirt and placing it there. Bending low to touch the ground Ishihara slowly looked up. "Someone's here.." Just outside the outpost, Akemi stud among the pale dead trees that had once been lush forest. Her crimson hair and ANBU style attire did little to hide her against the graying tree trunks, but her grey vest provided some level of concealment. Still, without the lush foliage, it was difficult to remain hidden. Although Akemi knew there was no immediate need to hide, she felt exposed and uncomfortable. The seemingly decayed landscape of the Land of Craters had only intensified her uneasiness. A vantage point may have eased some of the discomfort, but their advanced stage of decomposition made traveling along their branches impossible. I don't like being alone out here Akemi thought. Best I hurry and find the other Leaf Ninja. We'll get more done in a group. Akemi bit down on her thumb, drawing blood with her canine. Akmei quickly performed several hand seals, ending with Hitsuji. Akemi slammed her hand down on the dry dead soil. White smoke puffed up from underneath Akemi's hand, revealing a ring of pidgins once it cleared. One by one, the pidgins flew off the ground, all heading high above the trees and all in different directions. As the pidgins grew farther away, Akemi waited patiently for her their return. "The faster I can get out of here, the better." Akmei muttered to herself. Upon returning, the pidgins formed the same circle they had been summoned in. For a moment, the pidgins remained still. Then a cluster of three of the pidgins, all facing towards the small outpost that was visible through the line of dead trees, fluttered their wings and cooed loudly. That better be them. ''The ring of pidgins disappeared in a puff of smoke as Akemi carefully made her way to the outpost. Not half way to her destination Akemi noticed movement out of the corner of her eye upon exiting the treeline. Akemi instinctively wrapped her fingers around the handle of her kukri. "State your business in this land!" Akemi shouted. Ishihara glanced over to the hollering voice, he didn't like it. Especially when he was trying to get something completed. It called out to question him. Standing back to his feet flatly, he placed his hand in his pocket. He tie pushed to the side with the wind that blew. He knew it was something up from earlier as the pigeons flew in a perfect pattern. But at the time he thought nothing of it, however he did take small note of it. "What is your business." He answered back. Akemi didn't answer. She instead took a few steps towards Ishihara and turned her palm outward, revealing the Leaf symbol on the underside of her metal forearm guard. Ishihara, a bit annoyed at what the girl had done, continued to investigate the site. While doing so, he states back to her. "You didn't answer my question." "I was requested to assist with the Leaf's investigation of this land by the Hokage." Akemi replied, not letting it show that she already didn't like her ally. "I assume your the one they sent to investigate?" With a simple look of opposing direction he sighed. "I wasn't assigned the mission. I took it. There is no one else capable of meeting the missions ''special requirements." Looking over to the girl he continues. "I don't remember Lady Kasuga saying I needed assistance either." Akemi raised an eyebrow at Ishihara. "Like it or not I was asked to assist and that's what I'm going to do. If you have a problem you can take it up with the Hokage." Akemi walked over to Ishihara, stopping only a few feet in front of him. "But if you want to get this mission over with quicker, I suggest you cooperate and not criticize the Hokage's decisions." Shifting Sands You are at one of many paths, on a beaten road, choose wisely, to the left, you go to the dead forest, to the right, you hear the sound of rushing water. The Mist Enters Walking the path of the dead forest, you feel an air of tension around you. Missing-Nin Engage You have made it through the dead forest, and your path seems to die suddenly, a settlement can be seen in the distance. Notes *Upon entering the village, each player will be allocated a nausea meter, this nausea meter, and thereby: the Corrupt Release will be undetectable for a majority of the first chapter, of which, when said meter reaches 100% acts as a primer would with a paint, prepping one's body for the corrupt release variations and sicknesses within. Over the course of the Arc, the longer one stays within the village, the more sick and restless they will become. Once hitting 100%, chakra regeneration falls dramatically.